Tarrant County West Nile Virus trapping, testing in full swing

(Tarrant County, Texas) . Today, Tarrant County Public
Health (TCPH) begins its seasonal trapping and testing of
West Nile virus (WNV) mosquito samples, which will involve
a network of more than 200 traps throughout the county.
One hundred fifty of the traps will be deployed in fixed
locations, with 50 used to move around the network.
Off-season trapping, used when mosquitoes are less active,
has been going on since April 1. To date, all of the
mosquito samples from these traps have tested negative for
WNV.

"It is the beginning of the season, and our
proactive measures are in place," explained Tarrant
County Public Health Director Lou Brewer. "We have
added additional staff and equipment, ramped up our
mosquito sample testing, updated our Web site and prepared
messages designed to reach Tarrant County residents
through online newspaper advertisements, theater ads and
billboards."

"We need the public's help," she
continued."Everyone is at risk of
being affected by West Nile virus. Stopping the disease
begins by dumping any standing water, which eliminates
potential mosquitoes breeding sites. People who plan to be
outdoors, especially during dusk and dawn, should use an
insect repellent."

"Our main message, Take Control - Stop West Nile Virus, was
developed, in part, by using creative work done by TCU
freshman and sophomore PR Principles' students," said
Brewer.

The Web site includes a new interactive map that
allows people to pull up WNV information about mosquito
pools, human cases and any TCPH spraying activity. The map
will be available 24/7 for residents to plug in a date,
location and the WNV-related information that they are
seeking.They also may view special
announcements.

TARRANT COUNTY, TEXAS

Website Use

Supported Browsers

Tarrant County provides the information contained in this web site as a public service. Every effort is made to ensure that information provided is correct. However, in any case where legal reliance on information contained in these pages is required, the official records of Tarrant County should be consulted. Tarrant County is not responsible for the content of, nor endorses any site which has a link from the Tarrant County web site.

This site is best experienced with supported browsers: Internet Explorer 9 and above, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Apple Safari. If you use an older or unsupported browser, you might notice that some features do not function properly. Click the browser name above to learn more about the recommended browsers.